Vending machine



Dec. 26, 1944. R. BAKER, SR

VENDING MACHINE Filed Dec. 30, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Dec. 26, 1944. R. BAKER, R I 2,365,995

VENDING MACHINE Filed Dec. 30, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR x f2 1 BY 7WM ATTORNEY Dec. 26, 1944. I BAKER, SR 2,365,995

VENDING MACHINE Filed Dec. 30, I941 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR W 64444-,"4-

ATTORNEY Dec. 26,1944. I R. BAKER, sR 2,365,995

' VENDINGMACHINE I Filed Dec. 50,1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 26, 1944 VENDING Raymond Baker, Sr., Upper Darby, Pa, assignor to Horn & Hardart Baking 00., Philadelphia,

1a., a corporation of New Jersey Application December 30, 1-941, Serial No. 424,881

4 Claims.

The object of this invention to devise a novel vending machine, and more particularly novel door [controlling and locking mechanism.

In one type of vending machines used in .Automats for the vending f articles of food, a bank of vending machines is built up of :units ofreonstruction arranged side by side to form ;a continuous wall, having vertically aligned, door controlled, delivery openings, and each 11001 is provided with an individual locking mechanism.

Each unit has an article carrier in the vform of a rotatabl mounted drum having -=sup.erimp.cs.ed

article receiving compartments, :each of which has a combined receiving and delivery to registerswhen in vending position with the door controlled openings. Tipon the insertion .of a coin or coins of the proper value into the coin mechanism for a selected compartment and the turning of the handle for such looking mechanism, the locking mechanism is released and the door is permitted to swing open. Each :door is provided with 'a latch so that when raised, it will be retained in its raised position. The drums are provided with cams, efiective when the drum is rotated to reset the coin mechanism and to lock the doors in closed position.

My present invention rel-ates moreparticularly to a machine of this type, and comprehends novel mechanism, controlled by an attendant in rear of the machine, to cause all of the doors of a 3 unit to be moved into locking position without shock, and novel mechanism for locking all .of the doors of such unit.

Other novel features of construction and advantage will hereinafter fppear in the detailed description and'theappendedcla'ims.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, I have shown "in the accompanying drawings :a preferred embodiment thereof which I "have found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results. It is, however, to be understood that.

rier.

F re 4 "is a side elevation of a door and its latch in the position they assume when the door is in its wide-open position.

Figure .5 is a side elevation, showing the position thclatch and door assume when the ham-- dle nontrolling them .is pressed downwardly.

"Figure .6 is a side elevation showing a doorand its latch, with the door in its closed position.

Figure 7 is a side elevation of a slide bar and itsfadjuncts.

:Figure Bis a side elevation similar to Figure 7, but showing :the slide bar and its adjuncts in a flilierent .ure 7. l

Figure 9 is a top plan view, showing more particularly means for securing the article carrier in vending position.

Figure 10 is a rear elevation of a portion of the door locking mechanism seen in Figure 1.

Figure 11 is a detail of the spring for adoor.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Referringto the drawings:

1 designates the frame of a vending machine, embodying :my invention. The frame :is provided with a row of superimposed and vertically aligned article idelivery openings 2, the row forming a unit :of construction. Each opening is controlled by an individual door 3., pivotally carried by the frame, and arranged to move to its position from that seen in Figclosed position by gravity. The doors have rollers '4, and havezopenings 5 in their bottoms to receivelocking plungers in a manner which will be hereinafter described. Each door '3 has one end of a latch 6 pivotally connected with it. Each latch has an 'L shaped slot 1, provided with a notch. or open .recess near the free end of the latch, as at :B, to cooperate with a headed pin 9, fixed to a side wall of :a door frame. The rear edge of the latch has an inclined edge portion Ill which merges into a stop shoulder H.

The latches are controlled in a novel manner by .studs '12, extending through slots I3 in a door frame with proper (clearance to provide .for the raising and lowering of the studs. The studs 12 are fixed to a bar M, .slidahle in guides 11:5. fixed-to the frame. A handle 16 in the form of a lever is pivoted to a bracket II fixed to the frame and is connected :by :a link 18 with the slide bar 14.

\ An article carrier t9, in the form of a drm'n,

having superimposed article receiving compartments 20, is rotatably mounted in the frame, so that combined receiving and delivery openings '2l in the drum will register with the door controlled delivery openings of the frame, when the drum is in its vending position. The drum has a. stop member 22 cooperating in the conventional manner with the frame to limit the rotation of the drum.

The drum is locked in its vending position by a spring catch 23, cooperating with a handle 24 carried by the drum to turn it. The drum has on its outer periphery cams 25, similar to those shown in the Cramer Patent No, 1,758,652., to cooperate with locking mechanism similar to that shown in said patent and in the Fritsche Patent No. 1,199,066 and Fritsche Patent No. 1,039,508 to which reference isdirected for a detailed description of the construntion and operation of such mechanism. For the purpose of description, it is only necessary to state that the locking mechanism has, as shown in the Fritsche and Cramer patents, aforesaid, for each door a cam slide 26 which moves the locking ends of levers 21 into and out of openings 28 in the bottom of a door frame and the openings in the bottom of a door. Each cam slide 26 is connected by a link 29 with its respective, tensioned coin mechanism 30, which When released swings laterally to move the cam slide in a direction to cause the unlocking of the door controlling the delivery opening. The opening movement of the door is facilitated by springs 3| having one end fixed to the door and their free ends bearin against the door frame. The cams 25 on the drum cooperate with levers 32 of the coin mechanism to reset the coin mechanism and effect the locking of the doors when the drum is turned.

I provide novel means for simultaneously locking all of the doors. The drum has a cam 33 which cooperates with a roller 34 on a locking bar 35, slidable in brackets 36, fixed to the machine frame. The locking bar is normally retained in its raised position by a spring 31, one end of which is fixed to the bar and the other end of which is fixed to a fixed point of the frame and as shown to a bracket 36. The locking bar has locking plungers 38 fixed to it and offset intermediate their ends, one for each door. The free ends of the locking keys are bevelled and are adapted to pass into the openings 28 in a door frame and the openings 5 in a door. The

upward movement of the locking bar is limited by a stop 39 on the bar engaging a guide bracket 36 for the locking bar. of the doors are limited by stops 40 carried by the door frames. Cams'42 have the same function as the door closing earns 18 in the Cramer Patent 1,905,033. The movement of a lever 44 of the coin mechanism controls a stop member 45 to control the passing of a coin through the coin chute into a coin receiver.

The operation will now be apparent to .those skilled in this art and is as follows:

We will now assume that the compartments of the article carrier are filled with articles to be vended, that the article carrier is in vending position, and that the doors are locked.

The intending purchaser inserts a coin or coins of the proper denomination in the coin slot of t a selected coin mechanism, and turns th hen- This releases the coin mechanism dle 4|. as disclosed in the Cramer Patent No. 1,758,652. The rear portion of the pivoted coin mechanism swings towards the right as viewed from the rear in Figure 1, and the arm of the coin mechanism which is connected by the link 29 with the cam The inward movements The purchaser raises the door into substantially a horizontal position, the pin 9 being received in the notch 8 of the latch 6 to retain the door in its raised and open position. The purchaser removes the article purchased and ordinarily leaves the door in its raised position.

Since the openings to the compartments in the article carrier serve as combined receiving and delivery openings, and the compartments are refilled from the rear of th machine, the article carrier must be turned from its vending position. The doors must be released from their latches before they can be closed. The attendant in rear of the machine presses downwardly on the handle lever 16, thus moving the locking ibar l4 upwardly and causing the studs l2 to move the free ends of the latches upwardly and releasing the notches 8 from the pins 9. In order to prevent the doors closing with a bang, the latches are provided with inclined edge portion [0 so that the doors are momentarily arrested in their downward swing when the walls [0 come into contact with the studs 12. The attendant now releases the handle IS, the bar I4 drops, and the doors complete their closing movements without shock, and the shoulders ll of the latches engage the studs l2.

The doors are now in position to be fully closed by the turning of the article carrier from its vending position into its receiving position. During this turning movement, the cams 42 on the article carrier press against the rollers 4, positionedabove the pivotal plane of the doors, and move the doors into lockingposition.

The cams 25 act on the levers M, which have a lug and shoulder connection with their coin mechanisms (see parts 68-459, Figure 4, Cramer Patent No. 1,758,652), and the coin mechanisms swing to the left and are reset in their vending positions. Thearm connected by link 29 with the cam slide 26 moves the cam slide to cause the locking plungers to move into the door openings 5. The locking bar 35 is in its raised position except when it is lowered by the cam 33 on the article carrier. When the article carrier is in vending position, the roller 34 is bearing on the under face of the cam'33, but, as soon as the article carrier is turned, the roller is disengaged from the cam and the locking bar 35 moves upwardly to lock all of the .doors. This prevents a door being unlocked by its coin mechanism when the article carrier is being turned to or from its vending position.

When the article carrier is in vending position, the cams 25 engage the cam members 32 on the levers 44, so that the coin stop members 45 are moved outwardly from the coin chutes to permit the coins to pass freely through the coin chutes into the coin receivers of the coin mechanisms.

The stop 22 on the article carrier cooperates with fixed portions of the machine frame to stop the article carrier in its vending or in its fillin position. I

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a vending machine, a frame having superimposed article delivery openings, doors controlling said openings, an article carrier rotatably carried by saidframe and having superimposed compartments with openings to register with said door controlled openings, locking mechanism ineffective to lock said doors when the article carrier is in vending position and effective to lock said doors when the article carrier is turned from its Vending position, and means on said article carrier to render said locking mechanism ineffective.

2. In a vending machine, a frame having superimposed article delivery openings, doors controlling said openings, an article carrier rotatably mounted on said frame, and having superimposed compartments with openings to register with the door controlled openings when the article carrier is in vendin position, a locking member having means to look all of said doors, means tending to move said locking member into locking position, and means to move said looking member out of its locking position and retain it out of locking position when the article carrier is in Vending position. i

3. In a vending machine, a frame having delivery openings one above th other, doors for said openings, a drum rotatably mounted in said frame and having compartments with openings to register with the door openings, a locking bar slidably mounted, locking plungers on the bar engaging openings in the doors to simultaneously look all of said doors, yielding means to move -said bar into locking position, and a cam car- 15 openings, door locking mechanism set by rotation of said article carrier, and auxiliary locking mechanism to lock said doors when the article carrier is being turned from its vending position.

RAYMOND BAKER, SR. 

